Building social networks based on commerce

Abstract

A social network relating consumers to a commerce system of interest is built. Weights are assigned for individual nodes of the social network based on predetermined criteria. The social network is navigated to identify customer leaders and define customer segments of the commerce system. The social network is also navigated to identify specific communication channels relative to the customer leaders. Effective marketing strategies are defined using the customer leaders and the specific communication channels.

1 . A method for defining marketing strategies by identifying social commerce patterns, comprising:
 building a social network relating consumers to a commerce system of interest;   assigning weights for individual nodes of said social network based on predetermined criteria, said weights and said criteria being stored in a memory;   navigating said social network, under instruction of a microprocessor, to identify customer leaders based on said stored weights and to define customer segments of the commerce system;   navigating said social network, under instruction of said microprocessor, to identify specific communication channels relative to said customer leaders;   storing said identified customer leaders and said identified specific communication channels in said memory; and   defining, with said microprocessor, marketing strategies using said stored customer leaders and said stored specific communication channels.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the social network is built using induced commerce transactions. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the social network is built by integrating social graphs from existing social networks. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said predetermined criteria include activities that result in completed commerce transactions. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said predetermined criteria include how many communications there are between said customer leaders and other consumers. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein social activities related to commerce are tracked for commerce value. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein identifying said social activities comprises monitoring communications for said social activities. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said customer leaders are provided with incentive points for engaging in social activities, wherein said social activities are ranked in accordance with a predetermined commerce value. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein key interaction points of the customer with the stores are defined and used to market to consumers. 
     
     
         10 . A computer program product for defining marketing strategies by identifying social commerce patterns, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code comprising:
 computer readable program code configured to build a social network relating consumers to a commerce system of interest;   computer readable program code configured to assign weights for individual nodes of said social network based on predetermined criteria;   computer readable program code configured to navigate said social network to identify customer leaders based on said weights and to define customer segments of said commerce system;   computer readable program code configured to navigate said social network to identify specific communication channels relative to said customer leaders; and   computer readable program code configured to define marketing strategies using said customer leaders and said specific communication channels.   
     
     
         11 . The computer program product of  claim 10 , further comprising computer readable program code configured to build said social network using induced commerce transactions. 
     
     
         12 . The computer program product of  claim 10 , further comprising computer readable program code configured to build said social network by integrating social graphs from existing social networks/social networking sites. 
     
     
         13 . The computer program product  claim 10 , wherein said predetermined criteria include activities that result in completed commerce transactions. 
     
     
         14 . The computer program product of  claim 10 , wherein said predetermined criteria include how many communications there are between said customer leaders and other consumers. 
     
     
         15 . The computer program product of  claim 10 , further comprising computer readable program code configured to track social activities related to commerce. 
     
     
         16 . The computer program product of  claim 15 , further comprising computer readable program code configured to identify said social activities by monitoring communications for said social activities. 
     
     
         17 . The computer program product of  claim 10 , further comprising computer readable program code configured to provide said customer leaders with incentive points for engaging in social activities, wherein said social activities are ranked in accordance with a predetermined commerce value. 
     
     
         18 . The computer program product of  claim 10 , wherein key customer interaction points are defined and used to market to consumers. 
     
     
         19 . A computer system for defining marketing strategies by identifying social commerce patterns, comprising:
 a processor programmed to:
 build a social network relating consumers to a commerce system of interest; 
 assign weights for individual nodes of said social network based on predetermined criteria; 
 navigate said social network to identify customer leaders and define customer segments of said commerce system; 
 navigate said social network to identify specific communication channels relative to said customer leaders; and 
 define effective marketing strategies using said customer leaders and said specific communication channels. 
   
     
     
         20 . The computer system of  claim 19 , wherein said processor is further programmed to build said social network using induced commerce transactions. 
     
     
         21 . The computer system of  claim 19 , wherein said processor is further programmed to build said social network by integrating social graphs from pre-existing social networks. 
     
     
         22 . The computer system of  claim 19 , wherein said predetermined criteria include activities that result in completed commerce transactions. 
     
     
         23 . The computer system of  claim 19 , wherein said processor is further programmed to track social activities related to commerce. 
     
     
         24 . The computer system of  claim 19 , wherein said processor is further programmed to provide said customer leaders with incentive points for engaging in social activities, wherein said social activities are ranked in accordance with a predetermined commerce value. 
     
     
         25 . The computer system of  claim 19 , wherein key customer interaction points are defined and used to market to consumers.